Popular Republican Movement
|flag = |logo = 250px|colours = Orange|leader3_title = |leader3_name = |chairman = Stuart Ponsonby|spokesman = Arlen Specter|wing1_title = Affiliated radio|wing1 = Movement Radio|seats1_title = Chamber of Deputies|founder = Stuart Ponsonby Jeff Sessions|youth_wing = Youth of the Movement|newspaper = Ponsonby Press|secretary_general = Jeff Sessions|membership_year = 574AER|membership = ~25,000 }} The Popular Republican Movement is a radical centrist political party in Falleentium that was formed on June 14, 570AER in Tapanuo by Stuart Ponsonby and Jeff Sessions. It contested its first federal election in 575AER, which resulted in it garnering 5% of the vote. The party subsequently negotiated its involvement in His Imperial Majesty's Government with the larger Socialist Party and United Koalition of Imperialist Parties. Most recently, it contested the 575 election, which saw it reach 12.5% of the vote - making it the third largest party in parliament - and subsequently negotiate a pragmatic leftist government with the Socialist Party and the New Progressives. It boasts the greatest growth in vote share of any party between the 571 and 575 elections. Policy Positions The Popular Republican Movement is a political party that stresses the importance of compromise and meaningful coalition in government to achieve results. It has been described as Radical Centrist and by political observers, noting the party's willingness to adopt policy positions from both the left and right. Foreign Policy The Movement believes in a non-interventionist foreign policy that involves significant reductions in military spending, believing that the Falleen budget is better spent at home rather than in endless and pointless wars in foreign continents. PRM proposes a peaceful and democratic solution to the Haalsian strife; the party demands a democratic mandate from the people of Haalsia that either confirms or rejects the idea of continued Falleen statehood. PRM has recently become known for attempting to re-open diplomacy with Vanossium. Economic Policy The Movement believes that the economy works best when the common man makes not just enough money to survive, but enough money to contribute back to the economy through purchases. It hopes to achieve this end through low-income tax breaks, trade protectionism, and through government investment. It does not, however, endorse deficit spending except when there is an explicit plan to mitigate and swiftly repay debts created thereby. PRM proposes tackling unemployment and spurring economic growth by providing tax incentives for companies that hire employees and purchase capital from mostly Falleen-based sources. It also proposes illegalizing the sale of plant milks using the word "milk" in an attempt to assist rural dairy farms. Social Policy The Movement advocates civil liberties, believing that the individual ought to be permitted to live their lives as unobstructed as possible by government or other entities. PRM endorses an expanded education budget to hire quality instructors and keep class sizes small. While the party expressed a desire to exhaust all options before considering full independence for Hastiga and Veldunum, it has committed to honor the democratic mandates provided by the Hastigan and Veld independence referenda scheduled for 277AER. History Formation The Popular Republican Movement was founded on June 14, 570AER in an office park located at 109 East Park Place, Tapanuo. It was the brainchild of local television news reporter Stuart Ponsonby, who was legally helped in the formation of the party by his good friend and lawyer, Jeff Sessions, who was subsequently made the parliamentary leader of the party. Other prominent acquisitions by the party included political commentator Arlen Specter, who was signed on as Spokesman of the party, and longtime government accountability activist Sheldon Whitehouse. Election of 571AER and the Purple Coalition The Popular Republican Movement contested its first election in 571AER, where Jeff Sessions and, to a lesser degree, Sheldon Whitehouse, were deployed as campaign surrogates around Falleentium making policy-rich speeches that often focused on the economy. The election campaign was characterized by frequent sniping back and forth between the Movement and another new party, the Conservative and Reform Party, which Popular Republicans criticized for their right-wing extremist rhetoric. The result of this election gave 5% of the vote to the Popular Republican Movement. Assuming that UKIP, which was again victorious, would form a conservative government with other right-wing parties, the Popular Republicans negotiated to become a member of the Socialist Party-led opposition. However, this quickly changed as UKIP approached the Socialist Party, the Popular Republican Movement, and the Center Party to form a moderate "purple coalition" to govern, rejecting the hardline right-wing parties. The governing coalition of UKIP, SP, and PRM formed a 51.6% majority of the vote share. This expanded to 55.6% with the support of CP. Popular Republicans Jeff Sessions and Donald Rumsfeld served in the second Angela Merkel cabinet as Home Secretary and Education Secretary, respectively. The official opposition to this government came from the National Socialist Union, which had become the third-largest party in the Chamber of Deputies after a merger with The Alternative. The opposition from this party was generally characterized as weak and ineffective, however; the NSU had a poor attendance record for votes and did not seek to contest the 575 elections. The government was opposed most vocally by the Falleentium Conservative and Reform Party, which styled itself 'the real opposition'. While UKIP and the Socialist Party came under fire from ideological purists in their bases of support and from other political parties for working together, PRM was spared such attacks due to it being situated ideologically in-between its coalition partners, it being the smallest faction of government, and leader Sessions' proud commitment to working with other parties as much as possible in parliament. Election of 575AER - party growth and Chancellor Brandt At the beginning of 575AER, Jeff Sessions announced that he would step down as parliamentary leader and chancellor candidate for the Popular Republicans, citing his age. He was replaced by another early party member, Sheldon Whitehouse. at Sessions' recommendation and after a unanimous confirmation by party MPs. The party ran a positive but vigorous campaign, including a series of debates where Spokesman Arlen Specter represented PRM views on a host of topics. On the eve of the election, UKIP and SP mutually ruled out working in a coalition with each other, ending the possibility of a continuation of the governing electoral alliance of the past four years. Whitehouse delivered a commanding electoral result of 12.5% - an improvement of 7.5% over the previous election, making PRM the party with the strongest growth since the last election (not counting the New Progressives, which received 8% after being newly established as a successor to the once-dominant Progressive Labour Party). The Popular Republicans were therefore slated to play kingmaker, as UKIP and SP both courted Whitehouse for an electoral alliance that would effectively decide who ran government for the next legislative session. Ultimately, Whitehouse chose to support Willy Brandt and the Socialists. Starkly different foreign policy views are attributed to the failure of UKIP to win PRM's support. The New Progressives formed the third arm of the coalition, which brought the Government up to 43% of parliament. However, it also had the support of the Federal Liberal Party and the Center Party, bringing the total to 51%. PRM's Sheldon Whitehouse became Deputy Imperial Chancellor, Donald Rumsfeld retained his position as Secretary of Education, Tulsi Gabbard was appointed Foreign Secretary, and Willi Stoph was appointed Secretary of Infrastructure and Transport in the First Willy Brandt Cabinet. As UKIP received 24% of the vote, it was nearly as large as all other non-government parties combined, and formed the opposition. UKIP apparently turned down offers to form a larger opposition coalition with the FCRP and Moderate Party, and instead stands alone in opposition. Thus the former coalition partner turned into the main opponent of the Socialist-Popular Republican-Progressive agenda. Sheldon Whitehouse commented about the difficulty his party faced passing legislation in this session of parliament; under Angela Merkel's second term, only UKIP, SP, and PRM needed to agree to a bill for it to pass the Chamber of Deputies. Now, under Chancellor Brandt, legislation is dependent on a more unwieldy five-party alliance to get to 50% - a prospect complicated by the Federal Liberals' opposition to many flagship PRM policy priorities. Electoral History Membership History Figures based on the official estimates of the Falleen Electoral Commission (FEC) Party Factions Once the Popular Republicans gained 107 seats in the Falleen Parliament, different factions in the party emerged and became official. Of the 107 PRM MPs, 80 are affiliated with one of the three factions and 27 remain unaffiliated. '''Investor Caucus: '''The Investor Caucus is the largest faction of PRM. They favor revitalization of the nation through investments. Some of these investments, such as for education, can come from the government, and some, as in the case of the Buy Falleen, Hire Falleen Act, can be private investments brought about using tax incentives. Notable members include Donald Rumsfeld and John Fetterman '''Budget Hawks: '''The Budget Hawks are the second-largest faction in PRM, and their primary concern is fiscal responsibility; they desire a government committed first and foremost to a balanced budget. These can be considered the more conservative wing of the party. Notable members include Jeff Sessions and Cumbernick Bandersnatch. '''Activists: '''The Activists are the smallest faction. They are the more unapologetically left-wing elements of the party, who share much ideologically with the Socialist Party. They favor an activist government that will intervene frequently to protect individuals from business and other special interests. They are the most in favor of direct democracy and populism. Notable members include Willi Stoph and Jimmy Dore. '''Unaffiliated: '''The unaffiliated members of the PRM don't associate explicitly with these three factions. For some, this is because they want to show neutrality as a party leader (such as with Sheldon Whitehouse, nominally unaffiliated despite most observers considering him part of the Investor Caucus). For others, this is because their priorities lie elsewhere (such is the case with Tulsi Gabbard, who is most concerned with foreign policy matters). Additional unaffiliated MPs include Party Whip Guy Fieri. Party Leadership Category:The Imperial Constitution